


Cat Fishing

by HardNoctLife



Series: IgNoct Week 2019 - HardNoctLife [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Animal Transformation, Cat/Human Hybrids, Catnis, Gen, Humor, IgNoct Day 2, Ignoct Week 2019, Mild Language, Minor Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia, Minor Original Character(s), One Shot, Status Effects, cat!Ignis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 18:48:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20101921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HardNoctLife/pseuds/HardNoctLife
Summary: IgNoct Week 2019 Day 2: "Someone gets turned into an animal, and chaos ensues."Noctis isn't sure what he would do without Ignis, but he's really not sure what he would do WITH Ignis if he was anything but his trusty and reliable (human) self.When a strange status effect renders the advisor incapacitated, Noctis isn't sure how to act.





	Cat Fishing

[](https://ibb.co/wNGXMzG)

Noctis blinked slowly, unsure that he had heard right. Prompto’s concerned face stared back at him, blue eyes wide and frantic, freckles darker due to the flush that colored them.

“Eos to Noct? Did you _hear_ what I said?” his friend demanded, waving his hands in front of the prince’s face.

Noctis laughed, short and abrupt, making Prompto gape in disbelief.

“Dude! This isn’t something to laugh about, I’m _serious!_”

“Nice try, Prompto, but there’s no freaking way.” Noctis flopped back on the hotel bed, the cry of seagulls audible through the open window behind him. “If you guys are trying to put one over on me, you’ll have to try a little harder than that.”

Prompto twirled in a circle, like an excited puppy chasing his tail—except this was from pure anxious energy and not knowing what to do now that Noctis wouldn’t listen.

“I swear on my life I’m not joking! _Please_—you gotta come see it with your own eyes.”

With an exaggerated groan, Noctis pushed himself up, the warm Altissian breeze making his hair ruffle as he stood. Prompto immediately grabbed his friend by the wrist, dragging him towards the door.

“All right, all right, I’m coming.” The prince chuckled, not seeing what the big deal was. Prompto led him to the next room where Gladio was sitting on the bed, looming over something that they couldn’t see with the Shield’s back to them. When they drew closer, the man turned with a grimace.

“Any change?” Prompto whispered. Gladio shook his head as they approached the edge of the bed, and Noctis stopped, placing his hands on his hips.

Gladio moved back to reveal the pillow that he had cradled between his legs. Nestled on top of it was a perfect ball of sleek brown and white fur, a ringed tail curled over a pink nose, pointed ears flicking in sleep. Noctis peered down at it in wonder as the cat began to stir, brilliant green eyes blinking awake at the sound of movement.

The animal yawned, then rose to stretch, back arching in a perfect curve. Everyone held their breaths as Noctis stared the animal down. It met the prince’s gaze, unblinking.

Even in feline form, Noctis would recognize that look anywhere.

“Oh shit,” he said, stomach dropping. “It really _is_ Ignis.”

* * *

“So, uh, _how_…?” Noctis was at a loss for words. The three of them sat huddled together in a circle on the hotel bed, watching as the cat—who also happened to be Ignis Scientia—prowled about the room, jumping lithely from the back of a chair onto a countertop before pausing to lick one paw, washing his face with a familiar poise.

“I’m not sure. I think it might have been something he ate when we went out last night—must have inflicted a bad status effect on him,” Gladio surmised. “He was human when we got back to our room, but this morning I woke up and he was…_that._” The Shield spread his hands, gesturing towards the animal in explanation. Noctis and Prompto couldn’t tear their eyes off of cat-Ignis as the feline stalked back over to them. “His glasses and clothes were on the floor and the door was still locked.”

There was silence as Ignis stared up at the three men, tail flicking.

“What is it, buddy?” Prompto inquired.

“_Meow.” _The sound was insistent, yet strangely polite.

“Too bad we can’t speak cat,” Noctis said dryly. This had to be the worst situation they had ever found themselves in—even worse than that one time Noctis had seen Prompto get needled by a cactuar, or when Prompto and Gladio had gotten lost in the Vesperpool at night searching for the prince.

Ignis jumped in-between the three, then pawed lightly at Noctis, meowing again. “Sorry, Specs, I don’t know—”

The cat nipped at Noctis’s hand, razor sharp teeth pricking his skin, and the prince yanked his arm back with a hiss. “Ow!”

“Oh!” Prompto brought one fist into his open palm. You could practically see the lightbulb go off over his head. “He’s hungry.” There was a purr of affirmation as cat-Ignis rubbed up against the sharpshooter’s side, and Prompto giggled, running a hand along the animal’s spine.

Gladio shook his head in disbelief.

“All right, well while you two kids figure out lunch, I’m going to go see if I can find a way to reverse this,” he sighed, rolling off the bed.

“Wait, you’re leaving us—with Iggy like _that_?” Noctis gulped.

“_Really_, princess? You don’t think you can handle it for a couple hours?” There was a moment of hesitation before Noctis crossed his arms firmly over his chest in stubborn defiance.

“Fine. But hurry, all right?”

Gladio gave a mocking salute on his way out the door. As soon as it shut, Ignis perched himself on Prompto’s shoulder, headbutting the blond’s jaw.

“Aww. I kinda like him like this,” Prompto laughed, scratching under the cat’s chin affectionately.

“What do you think we should feed him?” Noctis wondered. He wandered over to the mini fridge in their room and opened it, but it was empty, so he scanned the menu for room service. “Can’t exactly give him a burger and fries.” Lips pulling downwards, Noctis ran a hand through his hair, glancing back over at the cat that was perfectly content to lay itself across Prompto’s neck like a scarf.

He was surprised at the sudden flash of jealousy that clenched in his stomach at the sight of Prompto cuddling with his now feline advisor.

“Oh! I bet I know what Catnis would like!” Prompto exclaimed, pulling the animal into his arms and squeezing lightly. “We _are_ in Altissia after all.”

“_Catnis_, Prompto?” he groaned. Noctis leveled a stony glare at Ignis and the cat gave it back in equal amounts. “Fish?” he offered reluctantly. 

The purr that resulted vibrated through Prompto’s entire abdomen.

“I think that’s a yes!” the blond grinned.

* * *

Noctis let his bare feet dangle over the water, swinging them idly from the pier as he tilted his rod, watching as the lure bobbed over a wave. He heard Prompto laughing from where his friend was seated behind him, and there was a faint jingle as the blond dangled a bell over Catnis’s head. The feline pounced, chasing the shimmering bell in the sharpshooter’s hand as he dragged it back and forth across the wood planks in zig-zag patterns.

_Well at least _someone _is having a good time,_ the prince thought.

He couldn’t wallow for too long though, for he felt his line dip sharply and he immediately hopped to his feet. “I got one!”

Prompto dropped the makeshift toy in his hand to rally behind Noctis in support. “Sweet!” he exclaimed when he saw the signature shimmer of scales breach the surface of the water.

Noctis attacked the line patiently, reeling and giving up slack at the appropriate moments and twisting to apply power as needed. Eventually his diligence was rewarded, and he was able to haul in a large sea bass, grunting as he tugged it onto the gondola marina.

“Dude! This thing is huge!” Prompto crowed in amazement. Noctis grinned, his mood lifting. When Prompto raised his hand for a high five he smacked it without hesitation. While they were celebrating, the cat sniffed at the fish’s head, ears flattening cautiously.

“What do you think, Iggy?” Prompto prodded. The two men held their breaths as Ignis’s tail shaped into a curlicue.

After a long pause, the cat licked the head of the fish tentatively and both Noctis and Prompto relaxed, shoulders slumping with relief. Satisfied that the meal would be acceptable, the two bent to scoop up their catch, waiting on the next gondola to swing back around to take them to their hotel.

They were watching as one of the small vessels sailed into view when Prompto had a thought.

“Hey, Noct?”

“Yeah?”

“…who’s going to _cook_ the fish?”

Both of their eyes panned down to where Catnis was sitting ramrod straight, eyes narrowed accusingly.

“Oh.”

* * *

“No luck?” Noctis asked when Gladio finally returned to the room later that night.

Prompto and Noctis were laying on the bed together, the sleeping Catnis tucked between them when the Shield walked in, small body rising and falling with sleepy breaths. It had taken the better part of two hours to prepare Ignis’s fish so that it was remotely edible, and they had only recently gotten to relax, exhausted from the strange events of the day.

“Nope—and we’ve got another problem,” Gladio answered, expression grim.

The two boys propped themselves up on their elbows, surveying the larger anxiously.

“Specs was supposed to meet with the Altissian ambassador tomorrow morning, remember?”

Everyone looked to where the cat was resting peacefully, unaware of the precarious position he had placed them all in. Horrified, Prompto met Gladio’s eyes.

“What are we gonna do? What if he’s stuck like this _forever_?”

An unsettling silence permeated the room as they let the possibility sink in.

“I’ll meet with the ambassador,” Noctis offered suddenly. Gladio snorted, and even Prompto looked skeptical. “What? I _am_ the Prince of Lucis!” Indignation made his cheeks turn red. “You think I can’t do it without Ignis?”

“Well…” Prompto trailed. The blond bit his lip, fingers twitching over the cat’s soft fur as he thought.

“Thanks,” Noctis shot back, angry and more than a little hurt.

Gladio and Prompto exchanged a look. “Just don’t mess it up,” the prince’s Shield chided. “I’ll keep looking for a cure. There’s bound to be a solution.” There were no other words traded as Gladio left again, and Noctis turned onto his side, facing away from Prompto.

“C’mon dude, I didn’t mean it like that,” Prompto said apologetically. Noctis ignored him, shutting his eyes and pretending to be asleep. Eventually, Prompto gave up, slinking away to crawl into the other bed.

When the world went dark and all was quiet, Noctis laid awake, Prompto’s question running on a loop inside his head:

_What if he’s stuck like this forever?_

In spite of the tiny animal that nestled in the small of the prince’s back, and his best friend on the opposite side of the room, the prince felt alone.

* * *

At some point in the night, Noctis shuddered awake, a heaviness on his chest. He started to sit up, only to feel the easy pressure of padded toes against his sternum, shining eyes reflecting in the streetlight’s glow from outside the window. He eased down again, sinking back into the mattress, and relished in the vibrating hum of the cat that covered his torso like a blanket. Rethinking his need to use the bathroom, he closed his eyes and slept again.

* * *

Morning came too quickly, the sunlight glaring as Gladio came into the room, pulling up the blinds to wake the two inhabitants.

“Up and at ‘em, your meeting is in thirty minutes,” the prince’s Shield barked. There were complementary groans as both Noctis and Prompto tried to hide beneath the covers, but Gladio strolled over and pulled them back, impatient. Having no time to be nice, Gladio wrapped a hand around Noctis’s ankle and yanked, pulling him onto the ground with a _thud_!

“Oof,” Noctis wheezed, then growled.

“Come on, Your Highness.”

“I’m up, I’m up,” Noctis bemoaned. His head pounded from the lack of quality sleep and he managed to bumble upright to complete his morning routine in record time, forgetting his woes in his haste to get out the door.

They left the hotel in a rush, arriving at First Secretary Claustra’s estate where the meeting would be held, with only a few minutes to spare. Gladio helped straighten Noctis’s tie, which he had borrowed from Ignis’s unused wardrobe. “All right, I found Iggy’s notes—they’re in your jacket pocket. Remember that Ambassador Pierre is trying to secure exclusive rights to the Galdin Quay seaport…” Noctis nodded as Gladio rambled on, trying to keep all the information straight, but as soon as they announced their presence to the guards at the gate, everything went out of his head and he paled. Beads of sweat started to form along his brow.

_Shit. This is a terrible idea. _

Noctis had no idea how he would pull this off without Ignis’s guidance, and it made him feel utterly useless.

As Gladio and Noctis were ushered inside the building, the prince started to think he should try to fake an illness, or maybe come up with some sort of emergency, when a flash of white and tan skirted through his peripheral vision and he froze, causing his eyes to widen. Noctis barely heard someone announce the Altissian ambassador as he entered the room. He was too busy staring in horror at the space behind the man’s legs where Catnis laid curled beneath a low table, smug and content.

_How the hell did he get in here?!_

“Prince Noctis.”

Noctis’s head jerked up and he straightened, inhaling sharply. Gladio stood near the back of the room for moral support, but unlike the prince, the Shield hadn’t caught sight of their feline friend.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Noctis nodded, belatedly bowing to the ambassador’s greeting. The man’s thick mustache curled up at the corners of his mouth, but even that wasn’t enough to distract the prince from looking for Ignis as they moved to sit down.

“I see that Mr. Scientia couldn’t be with us today,” Sir Pierre mused. Noctis was irritated by the nasally quality of the older man’s voice, and he fought to maintain a neutral expression.

“Yeah, he, um…got sick. Food poisoning.” Noctis fidgeted, crossing one leg over the other, then promptly uncrossing them. He had no idea what to do with his hands, so he shoved them between his knees.

“That is quite regrettable. My prayers for a speedy recovery.” The man’s head bobbed, light shining off the bald patch on his graying head.

_Ugh._

“Thanks.”

Conversation lagged and Noctis racked his brain for what he could be missing. Out of the edge of his vision, green eyes popped out from behind a table leg, staring up at him as if to say, _what are you waiting for_?

“So—about the trade deals,” he remembered. There was a slow blink of approval from the cat near the ambassador’s feet.

“Ah, yes, so glad you brought that up Your Highness,” the man tutted enthusiastically. With a wave, an attendant brought forward a thick stack of papers and several folders, placing them on the table between the men with a _thud_. Noctis suppressed an inward groan and did his best to appear interested.

“So, as you know, the Altissian bay is closed to outside traffic…”

Noctis scanned the room casually, noting that Ignis had now made it directly under Sir Pierre, the cat still laser focused on the prince’s face. He watched as the animal’s tail made jerky movements to the left and right.

“…so, would that be agreeable to His Majesty?”

There was a pause, and Noctis realized that he was supposed to be answering a question that he hadn’t heard.

“Um, yep. Yeah, of course.”

“Really?” The man leaned forward and grinned wide, teeth crooked and browning in places. Noctis turned a cringe into a smile at the last second, only to have Sir Pierre rear back, face contorting as he sneezed violently. The water droplets in the air brushed Noctis’s arm and he gagged, bringing a fist to his mouth to hide his disgust.

“Oh, oh my—” The sneezing continued and Noctis edged away, struggling to remain his composure during the ambassador’s coughing fit. Eventually it subsided—much to the prince’s relief. “I apologize, I don’t know what came over me—a _cat!” _

Noctis jumped as the ambassador pointed an accusing finger, and he turned, locating where Catnis had joined the prince at his side. He could _feel_ Gladio shift along the back wall in alarm.

“I’m deathly allergic,” the man huffed, covering his face with his arm fearfully. “Get that _thing_ out of here.”

“That _thing_ is my ad—_cat_,” Noctis corrected.

“And you brought it _here_?” All semblance of diplomacy gone, the ambassador rose to his feet in a rage. “I could _die_, Your Highness. The sheer lack of consideration—”

Noctis was rising too, anger flashing like lightning in his storm cloud eyes. “How was I supposed to know that you had a cat allergy? _Besides_, if you’re allergic to Ig—_Cat_nis then obviously you’re not good enough to—”

“All right, I think we should reschedule,” Gladio interrupted, strong arm coming down on Noctis’s shoulder roughly. All the while, Catnis sat unperturbed, watching the events unfold with unabashed interest.

“Yes, that would be best,” Sir Pierre sniffed. Stifling his emotions, Noctis turned on his heel, grabbing the cat from the sofa as he went, enfolding him in his arms possessively. 

A strange sequence of events happened in quick succession after that. Before Noctis had completely left the room there was a _pop_, similar to the sound a glass of champagne makes when its cork flies off. This was followed by a curling puff of smoke, and a crushing weight bearing down on the prince, forcing him to his knees. He coughed and sputtered from inhaling the hazy air, squinting through tears to find Ignis Scientia—the _human_, Ignis Scientia—on top of him—

—very much back to normal, and naked as the day he was born. He looked around in apparent confusion, squinting without the use of his glasses to aid him.

“Ig—nis?” Noctis gasped from underneath his advisor, scrambling to free himself from between the man’s legs as he flushed a dark crimson from head to toe. Gladio, thinking quickly, shrugged off his jacket and draped it over the advisor’s shoulders in time for Sir Pierre to catch sight of them and go bug-eyed.

“What—_what_ is the meaning of this?” the ambassador demanded incredulously.

Ignis cleared his throat, accent lilting in spite of the awkwardness of the situation. He was the only person Noctis knew of who could look perfectly composed even while bare-assed. “If you wouldn’t mind providing me with some suitable garments, I would be happy to explain the situation in detail.” Noctis slapped one hand over his face to keep his eyes from wandering—and also to hide his utter embarrassment.

Sir Pierre made a strangled noise before following Ignis’s instructions, and there was a flurry of activity around them.

Once a few minutes had passed, Noctis dared to peek through his fingers and found that Ignis was watching him with the same disarming look he had fixed on the prince while in his cat form.

“W-what?” Noctis muttered as he ducked his head.

Smiling, Ignis shook his head.

“_Me_-ow, highness,” he teased with a feline smirk.

* * *

“Iggy’s back!” Prompto whooped when the three walked into the hotel room. Ignis laughed good naturedly as Prompto launched himself at the advisor, and he caught the blond in his arms and hugged him tight.

“Were you worried?” Ignis inquired.

“Dude, of _course_ we were! I’m not really sure what we would have done if you hadn’t changed back,” he admitted, speaking for everyone.

“Indeed. Well, you seemed to fare fine without me,” the bespectacled man insisted, to which he received three very different reactions.

“Are you kidding? They were helpless,” Gladio retorted, arms crossing.

Prompto figured honesty was the best policy. “We _managed_, but it wasn’t pretty.” Three sets of eyebrows arched in the direction of the crown prince, who was tight lipped and surly after the fiasco at the Altissian estate.

“What the hell even happened anyway?” Noctis’s question was cutting, grinding the conversation to a halt. Ignis spread his hands, placating.

“I knew Sir Pierre was smuggling unregulated goods across Lucian borders via ships docked at Galdin Quay. I felt it would behoove me to sneak into his office ahead of our meeting to see if I could uncover any information that would give me an upper hand in our negotiations, which was when Wes alerted me to a particular spell that might aid in me going unnoticed.” Prompto and Gladio nodded, seeing the reasoning, but Noctis remained unconvinced, mouth a thin line. “I had every intent to follow my plan through to the end, however…I found myself irresistibly drawn to the feline nature.”

“Wait—so did you forget you were a human?” Prompto had gone wide-eyed with wonder, hanging on Ignis’s every word. Ignis chuckled.

“I retained a vague notion of myself, but once I gave in to one indulgence, it merely led to another. The cat’s life is quite…luxurious. My human sensibilities faded, I’m afraid.”

“Basically, you decided to be Noct for a day,” Gladio said appraisingly.

“You could have _told_ us what you were doing.” The prince wouldn’t meet his advisor’s gaze, still salty from having found out that the bizarre status effect had been part of Ignis’s plan from the beginning and not a situation he needed rescuing from.

“I didn’t account for the strength of the magic, or its impact on me. Namely, that the feline desire for naps in the sun and fresh fish would be far more compelling than espionage and political intrigue. I apologize for causing you any unnecessary distress,” Ignis said sincerely, adjusting his recently recovered glasses out of habit.

“Hmph.” Everyone was looking to Noctis, waiting.

Smoothly and without warning, Ignis stepped to wrap one arm around Noctis’s shoulders, touching their foreheads together. Noctis felt his skin grow hot, but he didn’t pull away, heart fluttering in his chest.

“Next time, I’ll tell you,” his advisor vowed—and Noctis could have sworn that Ignis _purred_.

There was a lull and the room grew warm, a comfortable silence filling the space between them all.

“Hey, Iggy?” Noctis ventured, tone subdued and no longer defensive.

“Hm?”

“…will you teach me how to cook fish?”

There was a chorus of laughter from the prince’s friends.

“I would be delighted.”

**Author's Note:**

> This author responds to all comments! Feel free to talk to me directly on Tumblr (hard-noct-life) and Twitter (@HardNoctLife)
> 
> Art by AceFlorins (@aceflorins, Tumblr/Twitter)


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